A Warwickshire manufacturer of wood chippers and green waste shredders celebrated 20 years in business this month.

GreenMech not only celebrated its anniversary, its chairman Tony Turner commemorated an impressive 50 years in engineering, design and manufacturing.

The double milestones were honoured by a party for more than 300 guests at GreenMech’s manufacturing headquarters in Warwickshire – followed by a sightseeing trip and dinner for overseas guests and directors at nearby Stratford the following day.

Mr Turner formed GreenMech Ltd in 1993 to design, manufacture and market a British range of wood chippers and shredders to professional arborists, landscapers, contractors and local authorities across the world. He was joined in 2002 by his son Jonathan who took on the role of managing director.

Over the last 20 years, GreenMech has developed a unique and innovative range of machines which are now exported to 28 countries.

Among its significant achievements is a prestigious Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2005 and a second for Innovation in 2009.

Despite the recent economic climate, business is going from strength to strength, which is shown by a rise in sales of 74 per cent since 2009. GreenMech now employs more than 60 people and has recently taken on two new engineering apprentices.

GreenMech recently invested almost £1.5million in the latest manufacturing technology, including a state-of-the-art laser cutter.

And its export sales have doubled since the financial crisis of 2008 and represents 60 per cent of last year’s turnover. In tandem with that rise, their world-wide sales and support service, through appointed dealerships across four continents, continues to flourish.

GreenMech’s managing director Jonathan Turner said: “We are proud of our achievements over the last 20 years and are feeling positive and excited about the future.

“GreenMech plans to remain markets leaders in innovative chipper technology by continuing to invest in the latest manufacturing techniques and importantly, a skilled and motivated workforce.

“There are a lot of changes taking place within the organisation at present and we look forward to improving and developing our products, entering new markets and above all, keeping our customers happy.”